One of MY favorite things about the holiday season is CHRISTMAS CARDS!! I just love going to my mailbox every day and getting that little gift from my friends and family. As many of you know, my family goes ALL OUT with our Christmas card. So I thought I’d put together some a short list of tips to create an amazing holiday card.

Everyone loves to see how your kids have grown and changed. If possible, use a professional photographer (of course) and showcase your family!! In 2011 we created this lenticular card that showcases how much the kids have changed from 2009 when the old Memorial Bridge was taken to 2011 when the new Memorial Bridge was built.

Have fun with it!

This card was inspired by my nieces playing an old game that I played as a little girl. I put my own spin on it by adding the pictures of the family-including our dogs-because as you recall in the first tip, people want to see your family!!

Get nostalgic. The advent calendar card we created reminded me of my childhood Christmases.

Share the big milestones in your life.

Last years card was inspired by my daughter’s favorite childhood book. We took the look and feel of the book and told our own story about sending her off to her first year of college. It still brings tears to my eyes when I read it. I hope you find these tips helpful. You don’t have to go crazy, like we do every year, but keep in mind a few of these tips and I’m sure your holiday card will be one that people look forward to getting year after year.

If you are thinking about having a family portrait done but don’t think winter isn’t the season to do it-think again! Seriously-you don’t need to stress too much about what to wear or if you’ve put on a few extra pounds because you have to wear your winter coat! Also, winter is often the time for families with college age children and older to get everyone together at once.

I photographed the Levensons both inside and outside. This is the family’s favorite FAMILY portrait because it’s laid back, not too posed and it feels like it truly represents who they are as a family.

This is their outside portrait. What I love about this image is the contrast between the white background and the dark coats of the family, the way the dog matches the background and stands out against the black jackets as well as the elongated shadows at the bottom of the image. The freshly fallen snow is an added bonus.

As many of you have heard me say many times-I strongly believe it is vital during a family portrait session to get a photograph of the parents together. I know I treasure the images I have of my parents as they are today as well as when they were younger, and so do my children. I want to provide those types of images to my clients children as well.

While doing a family portrait, I often recommend getting all the various groupings. Why not? I’m there. This is the Levenson’s oldest with his girlfriend and their dog. Pets are part of the family too! Don’t forget to include them too!

Ok, so this is one of my new favorite spots. When the mom said she wanted an image of her son standing up while outside at Odiorne State Park, of course I thought of this tree and the photo session I did with the Daley family!

This is one of my absolute favorite images from this session! The interaction is priceless!

I had done a session with the baby and his dad, Ian, as a surprise Christmas present for Laurie. (which, I must say, is impressive. Most men just buy a gift certificate to the studio. He did that too but wanted the extra “wow” factor for his gift) So they already had images of father and son and now needed one of mom and son.

The picture perfect family!! Thank you for letting me capture this crazy special time for you! I had a blast (it looks like Lincoln did too!)